Manuela can't believe it's over

Even as I am sitting on this plane I can’t believe my days in Cape Town are over; it is unbelievable how quickly three and a half months go.  My experience in Cape Town will be unforgettable. I have met great people, made some awesome friendships and experienced so many things that are unexplainable.

Some of the awesome things I did in Cape Town:

• ·      Shark cage diving
• ·      Hiked table mountain
• ·      Skydiving
• ·      Hiked Lions Head
• ·      Attended Color festival
• ·      Rode an elephant
• ·      Pet a cheetah
• ·      Went paragliding
• ·      SURFED
• ·      Ate amazing food
• ·      Bungee jumped off of the highest bridge of the world
• ·      Went on a bush walk in Kruger National Park
• ·      Saw the big five (elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, buffalo) at Kruger National Park
• ·      Participate in a Treatment Action Campaign march for parliament to change bad patent laws
• ·       Watched two musicals (Blood Brothers and The Sound of Music)
• ·      Watched a play (A Human Being that Died That Night)
• ·      Went to the Freshlygrounds concert
• ·      Went to two soccer games one of which was the African championship game
• ·      Took a road trip to Plettenberg 

Ma Frances & Manuela

I was also able to become part of the communities through my internships. I had two internships for the time I was in Cape Town. One of the placements being at Elonwabeni family and child center; this shelter first started for affected and infected children with HIV/ AIDS. Unfortunately, the need for shelters has increased drastically in Mitchells Plain so it has now become a shelter for children that have been physically and sexually abused or kids who have parents that are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately there was not much for me to do at the shelter but I was able to meet an incredible woman called Francis or as we all at the shelter say “ma”. Ma is the social worker at the shelter and her dedication to the children is inspiring. She is such a wise women who taught me so much through her experiences and I could not be more grateful for everything she did to welcome Melanie and I. Through ma I was able to shadow a social worker, Daphne, at the department of Social Development.  Being at DSD and seeing how everything worked open my eyes and made me re-think the kind of social work I want to go into. When I first walked in to Daphne’s office I saw at least 60 files later to find out that those were all of her open cases. It was crazy to think that one person is in charge of so many files because realistically she only has time to work on one or two a day. During my time there I got to witness the middle process of a case all up to the court hearing that finalized the case. My first day at DSD, Daphne was working on a case for a teenage girl who needed to be placed in foster care. The foster family that she was going to be placed with was already the caretakers of her two younger siblings. My second day their I attended children’s court for this same case. I was given permission to listen to the hearing which was a great opportunity for me because 1) I have never seen the process of children’s court 2) it allowed me to see how the SA court system works.

Melanie & Manuela with kides at Klipfontein Primary School

I was also very fortunate to be able to intern at Klipfontein primary school although it was only five days it was my most favorite days. This school is located in one of the poorest communities, Netreg. At this school I shadowed the community worker Deon. Deon was an amazing person and very dedicated to his job he would not stop until he got what his clients needed. Deon took Melanie and I around the community to make home visits. As we did these home visits it was so sad to see how little the students I was with had but yet so astonished as to how happy these kids are at school. It was incredible to see how dedicated the principle was to his students and he always made sure his school was an environment in which his students would want to come to school everyday to learn regardless of the communities circumstances. Whenever there were no more clients Melanie and I went upstairs to the fourth grade classroom to read to the students. It is crazy how attached these kids get to you and vice versa when ever it was time for there recess the kids would come looking for us in the office so we would play duck duck goose with them or sing the “peel the banana song”. I will truly miss Klipfontein.

Melanie & Manuela

I was able to learn so much by being in the communities even though I really wont know what most of it means until I am put to the test after a few weeks/ months of being back home. My journey in Cape Town has come to an end but a new one begins.